Not sure if you’ve heard of the latest Hypercar to hit the world market, ‘The Mercedes-AMG One.
As a refresher, the definition of a Hypercar is a ‘top-tier supercar that bests all or most of the elements of standard supercars including, but not limited to, acceleration, price, rarity, handling, top speed, sound and appearance.
So, with just 275 cars built to celebrate the 55th anniversary of Mercedes-AMG Performance Division (of which all have been sold), a top speed of 352km/h, 0 to 100km/h in 2.9 seconds, a hybrid powertrain adapted from the F1 race car and a price tag of $5 million (eight will be coming to Australia). I think we can safely say the Mercedes-AMG One ticks all the hypercar boxes. It’s basically a road-going version of their F1 racer.
The AMG One was first floated as a mass-produced car in 2017, but it took engineers several years to adapt the F1 technology to work with fuel that’s available to the general public (i.e. 98 RON) and make the hybrid system reliable enough to enable it to be useable in road-going vehicles.
On the technical front, the 1.6-liter V6 petrol engine develops 422kW and is combined with a 120kW electric motor mounted directly on the crankcase, along with another 90kW motor on the turbo. The power is sent to the rear wheels, while a pair of 120kW electric motors power the car’s front wheels.
Mercedes-AMG say the combined system output is 782kW, which easily propels the two-seater left-hand drive to 352km/h making it the fastest model ever to wear a Mercedes badge.
Here is the Mercedes-AMG One being officially launched to the public in June of this year at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
F1-engined Mercedes-AMG One hypercar world debut at Goodwood Festival of Speed
To prove the vehicles performance credentials on October 28th, the Mercedes-AMG One set a production car Nürburgring Nordschleife lap record of 6:35.183 which is an average speed of 117.9 mph (189.8 km/h) in less-than-ideal conditions.
Not only was the tarmac damp in many spots, but there was also dirt on the track in some spots and the session was shortened due to weather delays. Apparently, by the time the track had somewhat dried out, Mercedes-AMG only had time for four fast laps.
The Mercedes’ press release:
At first, it didn’t look like a new record. The weather was sunny with a light wind, but the track was – typical of the Nürburgring in autumn – still damp and partly dirty in some areas. In some sections, such as the fast “Kesselchen” section, the ideal line had not yet completely dried. All in all, they were not ideal conditions – especially for a vehicle in this extreme performance class. By the time the track was passable for a first fast lap, the remaining time had whittled down to less than an hour. With air and asphalt temperatures of just under 20 degrees Celsius, this was only enough for a maximum of four fast laps.
Mercedes-AMG brought two ONEs to the Ring, which meant that the limited time could be used effectively. According to the specifications of Nürburgring 1927 GmbH & Co. KG, both vehicles were inspected and documented by TÜV Rheinland to ensure that they were in series production. A notary confirmed the proper condition of the vehicles and the correct execution of the record runs.
Here’s the record-breaking run and turn the volume up as the sound of the AMG One is amazing.
Watch the Mercedes AMG One Crush the Nurburgring – Autoweek
Here’s the official Mercedes-AMG Project One webpage which has all the statistics and some amazing video clips of the car: